The Small Business Millionaire

Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2006)
ISBN 1931741735
Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (01/07)

“The Small Business Millionaire” is about a mysterious patron of a failing restaurant who aids the owners in restoring their business.  The cook/owner of the restaurant, Frank, just wants to cook.  He really does not want to run the business.  His daughter Jennifer was just a college student who worked in the restaurant.  She then, inspired by the annoyingly mysterious coach, Jonathan, quits college and starts managing the restaurant.  She sees it as means to saving the restaurant and increasing her practical business knowledge.  This brazen move worries her father.  Is Jennifer making a foolish decision?

There are only 121 pages in “The Small Business Millionaire.”  I thought it would be concise and to the point.  This is not the case. 

When I began to read “The Small Business Millionaire,” I was surprised to see that it was a novel, not a textbook-like guide to getting rich quickly.  I read through the first half of the book, hoping that the degrading preaching would end, and the exciting novel would begin.  No such luck.

I felt hostage in one of those get-rich-quick seminars.  It was as if the doors were locked or the television could not be turned off.  The coach in the book would not answer a question in a straight-forward manner.  Everything had to be in riddle form. 

I am sure that there were many great lessons to learn from “The Small Business Millionaire,” but I could not get past the fact that the book was written for the lowest common denominator.  Why insult your readers by dumbing down the material?

Regardless of how poorly written, “The Small Business Millionaire,” Chandler and Beckford are superb coaches.  To learn from Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford, skip reading “The Small Business Millionaire.”  Read “9 Lies that are Holding Your Business Back.”  You will learn so much more.   I also recommend visiting their website.

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